It’s cider… it’s wine… it’s awesome! The aromatics of cider show on the nose. On the palate we get the pull of naturally occurring acidity.
Vineyard & Orchard
Gowan’s family has been growing apples and pears on this farm since 1876, and for 6 generations. Organic practices are used throughout the orchards. Bazzano Vineyard is located north of River Road near the town of Fulton. These hearty old Wente clone vines are dry-farmed, thanks to the heavy clay soils in which they reside, lending great depth of fruit character. Hot afternoons are mitigated by a vigorous canopy, allowing for precise acid retention and bright fruit tones.
Wine Making Notes
Chardonnay is handpicked and pressed whole cluster. Gravenstein apples are processed by Gowan cider and our winemaker picks it up the day it is pressed. At this point the apples and grape juice are blended together and then fermented in stainless steel tanks. 100% of the apple wine is co-fermented with native yeast. The wine is filtered prior to bottling to help maintain the natural malic acid of the apple cider.
Jordan Kivelstadt founded Kivelstadt Cellars in 2007 when he made 125 cases of Syrah from his family’s estate in Bennett Valley. Jordan has spent more than 15 years making wine around the world, to help define Kivelstadt’s mission. He shares the same mission of respecting the land and viticulture that carries through in our winemaking practices.
We pride ourselves on sourcing grapes from unique, historic, and organic vineyards. We believe wine, like life, is meant to be enjoyed with friends and food. At Kivelstadt we make honest wine from organic vineyards throughout California. Focusing on farming and minimalist winemaking, we craft wines that appeal to everyone, from casual to connoisseur.
Available States
AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Hi! These notes are going to be a bit brief, as I’m feeling a little low energy from the weather here this week.
What I have is the Kivelstadt Grav-Blanc apple/grape co-ferment. Basically, a hybrid cider/white wine. We’re big cider folks here, so we were happy to see it! We have both tasted it chilled and at “room temperature” which is about 62-63 degrees right now.
Chilled and freshly opened, it pours straw-colored, and was for us very “cider forward” initially. When I first gave Charming Leo a sip, he blurted out, “That’s a cider!” though he knew it was a blend. I agreed with him – the nose and the initial flavor was very much balanced cider, with a trailing edge of a light white wine. Very little/no tannins, light minerals.
As it warmed, the grape notes became more prominent and the cider vibe receded. At room temp, it felt to me like it had morphed from a cider-with-wine-notes into a wine-with-cider-notes. It remained very light on the palate, with little lingering elements.
My thought was that I would enjoy making a light summer sangria out of it, capitalizing on the apple and adding maybe a nectarine, enriching it with a splash of apple jack or apple brandy.
I keep thinking of it as a kind of “choose your own adventure” wine – find the temp where the notes you prefer dominate, and drink it there. That said, tonight we finished another try at it chilled and it didn’t seem as strongly cider-y. I’m not sure if it was because it was previously opened and had sat for a couple of days, but it’s still got a pretty pronounced apple nose.
Charming Leo says:
Tasted at room temperature:
Nose and palate reminds me of the austerity of a Sauvignon Blanc, but not as dry. Alas, nothing really leapt out at me. Clean finish.
Tasted chilled:
Nose has far more pronounced fresh apple notes. Palate reminds me of an apple cider, in the mid-range (i.e. not sweet, but not overly tart/sour). Hints of mineral and celery, with a slight peek of sweetness at the somewhat longer finish.
If you light a light white and/or a cider, you will probably enjoy this.
Added note: I am seeing in the notes that the apples are processed at Gowan. That tracks – I was trying to think of how to explain the kind of cider this feels like, and Gowan is a good representation of the style of cider this wine vibes with.
@TrinSF thanks! So would you call it “off dry” or more sweet at the semi-sweet level or even sweeter than that? Just trying to gauge how sweet this is.
@TimW Leo says “off dry” and not a lot of intrinsic sweetness. I don’t tend to drink a lot of very dry stuff, so my calibration is less informed than his is.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
NV Kivelstadt Cellars ‘Grav Blanc’ Apple Grape Co-Ferment - $30 = 18.75%
@Mark_L Hey hey, as someone who has had plenty of Boone’s Farm back in the day (my parents drank it when they were 20somethings a bit older than you are, and would have it or Cold Duck with pizza as a late night thing) I can say that this is not that.
This is a nice light white, frisky even (as i said above) with tart apple aromas and notes. The fruit wines you’re thinking of were super sweet and carbonated – much more in line with what we drank as “wine coolers” in the 80’s and 90’s.
This is about as close to Boone’s Farm as a Bartles & James cooler is to a Hugo spritz.
@Mark_L@TrinSF Gotta disagree - Boone’s Farm (and, of course, Thunderbird) were still wines.
Not that I had much of them. My Dad had a wine collection that was large enough to support the occasional rattage inflicted by two teenaged sons.
And it was his own damn fault if he thought it was a good idea to not only introduce his kids to responsible drinking well before it was legal for them to do so, but also to use quality juice for said introductions.
Damn, he ended up costing me a bundle over the years . . .
@rpstrong Were the BF products wines in the sense that they used grapes to make a fermented beverage? Yes. But they were low ABV and used methods that were not what was “wine” in any other sense of the word.
And yes, they WERE carbonated, dude.
Bottom line here: this Casemates offering is not like BF wine, and by making some kind of argument here, you seem to be just trying to be crappy about a thing you haven’t tasted, and I have. I’ve had plenty of cheap fruit “wine” in my life. This is not that.
@TrinSF I meant that they were still as opposed to carbonated, not that there was ever any doubt of them being wines.
And I see that I am showing my age. I don’t recall having had any since high school days in the early 70s, and according to [this random internet source]:1
There was an alcohol tax increase passed in 1991 that hit wine
hard, and rather than pay higher taxes, Boone’s Farm changed its
entire formula to instead have a fermented malt beverage base, like
that of the aforementioned Smirnoff Ice or today’s hard seltzers.
[They were previously made from pure apple wine.]
And I’m sure as hell not suggesting that that there is any comparison with this offer!
Kivelstadt Grav Blanc
Tasting Notes
Vineyard & Orchard
Wine Making Notes
Specs
What’s Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$264.00/Case for 12x Kivelstadt Grav Blanc at Kivelstadt Cellars
About The Winery
Available States
AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Mar 16 - Tuesday, Mar 17
NV Kivelstadt Cellars ‘Grav Blanc’ Apple Grape Co-Ferment
6 bottles for $79.99 $13.33/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $129.99 $10.83/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
This sounds fun!
@klezman Fun is a word I would use for this, yep. It’s mildly frisky.
Hmmm… any lab rats to speak to this one? I’m intrigued but unconvinced.
@Sekraan Yep, give it a sec for me to compile our notes.
2 good reviews over on CellarTracker…excitedly waiting for the promised rat notes.
@TimW Mine are up. I hope that helps. I have some time this evening for any questions, but not tomorrow.
Hi! These notes are going to be a bit brief, as I’m feeling a little low energy from the weather here this week.
What I have is the Kivelstadt Grav-Blanc apple/grape co-ferment. Basically, a hybrid cider/white wine. We’re big cider folks here, so we were happy to see it! We have both tasted it chilled and at “room temperature” which is about 62-63 degrees right now.
Chilled and freshly opened, it pours straw-colored, and was for us very “cider forward” initially. When I first gave Charming Leo a sip, he blurted out, “That’s a cider!” though he knew it was a blend. I agreed with him – the nose and the initial flavor was very much balanced cider, with a trailing edge of a light white wine. Very little/no tannins, light minerals.
As it warmed, the grape notes became more prominent and the cider vibe receded. At room temp, it felt to me like it had morphed from a cider-with-wine-notes into a wine-with-cider-notes. It remained very light on the palate, with little lingering elements.
My thought was that I would enjoy making a light summer sangria out of it, capitalizing on the apple and adding maybe a nectarine, enriching it with a splash of apple jack or apple brandy.
I keep thinking of it as a kind of “choose your own adventure” wine – find the temp where the notes you prefer dominate, and drink it there. That said, tonight we finished another try at it chilled and it didn’t seem as strongly cider-y. I’m not sure if it was because it was previously opened and had sat for a couple of days, but it’s still got a pretty pronounced apple nose.
Charming Leo says:
If you light a light white and/or a cider, you will probably enjoy this.
Added note: I am seeing in the notes that the apples are processed at Gowan. That tracks – I was trying to think of how to explain the kind of cider this feels like, and Gowan is a good representation of the style of cider this wine vibes with.
@TrinSF thanks! So would you call it “off dry” or more sweet at the semi-sweet level or even sweeter than that? Just trying to gauge how sweet this is.
@TimW Leo says “off dry” and not a lot of intrinsic sweetness. I don’t tend to drink a lot of very dry stuff, so my calibration is less informed than his is.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
NV Kivelstadt Cellars ‘Grav Blanc’ Apple Grape Co-Ferment - $30 = 18.75%
Anyone want to split a 6 pack in Boston area?
Having finished high school in the late 1960’s, I can’t get Boone’s Farm Apple Wine out of my mind when I read about this offering!
@Mark_L Hey hey, as someone who has had plenty of Boone’s Farm back in the day (my parents drank it when they were 20somethings a bit older than you are, and would have it or Cold Duck with pizza as a late night thing) I can say that this is not that.
This is a nice light white, frisky even (as i said above) with tart apple aromas and notes. The fruit wines you’re thinking of were super sweet and carbonated – much more in line with what we drank as “wine coolers” in the 80’s and 90’s.
This is about as close to Boone’s Farm as a Bartles & James cooler is to a Hugo spritz.
@Mark_L @TrinSF Gotta disagree - Boone’s Farm (and, of course, Thunderbird) were still wines.
Not that I had much of them. My Dad had a wine collection that was large enough to support the occasional rattage inflicted by two teenaged sons.
And it was his own damn fault if he thought it was a good idea to not only introduce his kids to responsible drinking well before it was legal for them to do so, but also to use quality juice for said introductions.
Damn, he ended up costing me a bundle over the years . . .
@rpstrong Were the BF products wines in the sense that they used grapes to make a fermented beverage? Yes. But they were low ABV and used methods that were not what was “wine” in any other sense of the word.
And yes, they WERE carbonated, dude.
Bottom line here: this Casemates offering is not like BF wine, and by making some kind of argument here, you seem to be just trying to be crappy about a thing you haven’t tasted, and I have. I’ve had plenty of cheap fruit “wine” in my life. This is not that.
@TrinSF I meant that they were still as opposed to carbonated, not that there was ever any doubt of them being wines.
And I see that I am showing my age. I don’t recall having had any since high school days in the early 70s, and according to [this random internet source]:1
[They were previously made from pure apple wine.]
And I’m sure as hell not suggesting that that there is any comparison with this offer!